In-N-Out, one of the best chains in history is celebrating its 60th anniversary tomorrow. This Southern California original always amazes me in that during the 60-years it's been cooking, quality or service hasn't declined.
Also, there's the consistency. No gimmicky items such as a pastrami or guacamole burger ever gets on the menu. Any new item is usually a product of customer request, and just involves one ingredient they already make, combined with another, like the Animal-Style Fries; and no item is ever retired.
However, I do wish they brought back John Goodman as its spokesman. His throaty pronouncements of the perfect lunch, broadcast over L.A. and O.C. radio waves, triggers an instant Pavlovian response and serves as a reminder “Hey, I haven't had one this week!”
I argue that there is no better champion of its deliciousness than him. Why? Well, its the kind of meal that only a fat man could credibly endorse.
My perfect In-N-Out meal? Hamburger Animal Style with Onion. Fries Well. Medium Coke.
What's yours?
Note: There's a hoax e-mail floating around that purported that the chain was lowering its prices on the date of its anniversary. I got a copy of it a few weeks ago. It is, of course, false. Tonight, I snapped a pic of this sign posted at the Tustin In-N-Out, whereupon the company responds.
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.
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